Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Astral Shift
by p1xy
Summary: Earth is in a state of chaos as celestial forces seem to be afflicting irreversible changes to the world, forging all sorts of irregularities. Earth's inhabitants are unsettled, and wrongdoers are rising to power amidst the unrest. Kieran and his trusty coalition of friends task themselves with the daunting task of reversing these negative forces, no matter the cost...


**Author's Note:** This is a bit of a test run for me as I've never dabbled too much with the idea of creating a full novel. I would love and appreciate any and all feedback! I enjoyed writing this and hope to make this a weekly thing.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Cold**

The moon, a glowing sphere of light in a sky of darkness, loomed above the canopy of the taiga and the snowy clearings between, casting the earth below in a pale and ghostly eeriness. The snow-covered ground lit up the environment around it in an ominous way, allowing those that wished to brave the land the ability to see into the night should they lack it. Snow-packed clearings looked undisturbed from above, with very little obstructions in their forms, seeming to blanket the landscape in a glittery white sheet. The land seemed rather barren aside from these features, and very few creatures dared to live in this part of the north. Mountains could be seen in the extreme distance, obscured by large coniferous trees of varying sizes.

It was in this place of dead silence that a lone, black figure, bloodied and wounded, tread southwards towards safety. Paw prints and blood imprinted in the otherwise undisturbed snow, leading an exposing trail directly to wherever the destination may be. For miles around this Pokémon seemed completely alone, leaving behind whatever mess it had recently dealt with. Glowing, yellow rings were visible on the canine's front legs and thighs, as well as its forehead and large foxlike ears, glowing much dimmer than their usual intensity. Gashes and bruises covered the Umbreon's body, each wound dripping blood at a slow and steady pace onto the snow beneath him.

It had been quite some time since Kieran had found himself in a position such as this, yet this pain felt even more unbearable. He wheezed with each breath as he treaded onwards, desperate for solace from the icy chills of winter. The several Pokémon he had fought less than an hour earlier were much stronger than he had anticipated, and what was supposed to be a simple surveillance mission turned into an all-out battle for survival, in which he came within inches of his life before escaping into the night. He wasn't sure if they were still tracking him, but he dared not to find out. Kieran knew he had severely wounded at least one of the four, but the status of the other three was unknown to him as he retreated.

 _I have to make it back,_ Kieran thought to himself, grunting as he continued to painfully haul himself towards the end of the clearing. _They need to know what's happening_ _up here…_

Hidden in the forest he was walking towards, ten or so miles south, was a checkpoint. There he would be able to get help from some of his associates and closest friends, those who had made everything he had in his life possible. He knew that wherever they were, he was home…

Kieran was under fifty feet out from the tree line when suddenly a tremendous force, a Dragon Pulse, shot out of the sky and exploded directly next to him on his left side, sending him flying several feet through the air and crashing him into the ground with a painful skid. He cried out in pain, his fresh wounds rubbing against the ice and snow, opening them even wider and chilling him to the bone. A Noivern swooped down from the heavens and landed over the Umbreon's battered body, pinning the canine by his neck under its clawed feet, staring him directly in the eye.

One of them had caught up to him.

"It's not often we find little guys like you wandering about in this tundra…" the Noivern sneered, leering down at Kieran. The bat-like creature tightened his grip around the Umbreon's neck, producing several pained gasps from him. "You may have to educate me… what in Arceus' name were you doing out in this tundra all by yourself? No way you could have been snooping around, right?" The Noivern grinned evilly as he lowered his face closer to the struggling Umbreon's, his pupils locked onto Kieran's crimson eyes. "Come now… out with it, because we _both_ know what's going to happen if I don't hear what I want to hear…" the bat whispered dangerously, baring his fangs.

Kieran felt his consciousness slipping, knowing that if he didn't get some sort of medical attention soon the end would certainly be spelled out for him. He grit his teeth, glaring up at his captor in anger, deciding to stop struggling to conserve his energy. There was no way he could leak any information about his friends, not after everything they had worked for. They were like family to him.

"Go to hell," Kieran muttered defiantly, wincing as spikes of pain hit several parts of his body, his wounds being exposed to the full chill of winter.

The Noivern's demeanor changed slightly, smirking as if he had expected that kind of an answer.

"Tsk tsk, that's no way to treat your current god. Does your life really mean that little to you? How sad…" The Noivern brought one of his winged arms down and dug his claws into Kieran's side, where his worst wound just so happened to be. He pressed into it deeply, bloodying it even more and making Kieran cry out in agony. "I can't help but think that you may not live too much longer, but just in case you change your mind, I'm offering you a one-way trip back to camp where I'm sure we can make some… _arrangements,_ for you."

The pain was unbearable as Kieran's mind raced. What could he possibly do?

 _Zander… I wish you were here… I don't want it to end like this. There's so much I need to tell you…_

Kieran bit his lip hard. Tears had welled up in his eyes as the Noivern continued witling at the gash in his side, widening it increasingly. He struggled to get out of the grip, but it proved helpless, and he ended up hurting himself even more against the bat's sharp claws.

"N- no… stop…" the Umbreon mewled weakly, his entire body stiff and on edge. "I- I'll…"

Everything simply hurt too much.

 _Forgive me, Zander…_

"P- please stop… I- I'll talk!" Kieran gasped out, tears streaming down his face as he wore a miserable and defeated expression.

The Noivern grinned, retracting his claws some as he kept the Umbreon pinned at his neck. "That's better. Now we're getting somewhere. Tell me, why were y-"

The bat paused and looked up just in time to catch a fireball square in the chest, sending him tumbling across the icy ground with a piercing screech. The Noivern's white mane had caught on fire, burning brightly against the dark atmosphere. Kieran stared at the spot his captor had just been, dazed and confused.

The next few moments happened so fast.

From the tree line, a powerful stream of water and a dazzling zig-zag of electricity both dashed over Kieran's head and towards the surprised bat, colliding into him at once with an awesome amount of force. The Noivern screamed in torment, all three elements conjoining and severely injuring their target.

Kieran weakly tilted his head slightly to watch the spectacle unfold, but soon turned towards where the attacks had come from, rolling left to lay down on his side. His vision was going blurry, and his eyesight had begun to close in on itself. He could see an orange splotch dashing towards him; this color seemed so familiar to him…

 _Z- Zander…? Is that you…?_

Kieran could barely make out the Flareon's panicked face as the world faded to black and his consciousness dissipated.

* * *

 _This is awful,_ Zander thought to himself as he dashed to Kieran, stopping once he had reached the Umbreon. The Flareon stood over his fallen partner protectively, eyeing the Noivern as he collapsed to the ground, a pathetic whimpering sound escaping from him as he fell over, rendered unconscious.

After quickly scanning the horizon for any other threats and finding none, the Flareon looked down at Kieran.

His eyes widened in shock from what he saw.

"LYNN! Get here now!" he barked in the direction of his teammates, turning his gaze back down to examine Kieran's injuries.

Aiden, a Zoroark, jumped out of the trees and gracefully landed next to the two of them, soon followed by Jayce the Greninja and Lynn the Ampharos. These three were Zander's closest friends... as well as Kieran's.

"Oh Arceus..." Aiden cursed as he caught a glimpse of Kieran's state, a look of worry plastered onto his face.

Zander started choking up as the thought of losing his partner and best friend crossed his mind. "Kieran... stay with us... we're going to get you home," he whispered to the Umbreon, leaning in to nuzzle his cheek. He could hear that Kieran's breathing was soft and shallow as he quickly turned to Lynn, who had already begun frantically pulling bandaging and an antidote out of her satchel.

"This should help, b- but we should really get him back fast," she said nervously, visibly shaken up from seeing Kieran in such a state. Jayce's usual cool and calm demeanor was noticeably different as he silently watched Lynn go to work, occasionally pausing to scan the area for enemies, keeping an eye on the motionless Noivern.

Zander looked over Kieran, counting the number of gashes that he could find. The Umbreon's entire body was covered in them, and they were all bleeding considerably. Tears welled up in Zander's eyes as a wave of guilt flowed through him. "I can't believe I agreed to let him do this on his own!" he yelled, gritting his teeth hard.

Aiden kneeled down next to Kieran, knowing he would have to be the one to carry him back. He put an arm underneath Kieran's head to support it. "It's not your fault Zander, he knew fully well of what he was getting into," the Zoroark muttered, impatiently watching Lynn bandage some of the worst cuts.

Jayce kept his eyes locked on the horizon. "We should leave. That Noivern couldn't have been the only one, Kieran is stronger than that," he said, looking over at Zander.

Lynn finished wrapping some of the worst cuts, but Kieran was still losing blood. She kneeled down and uncapped the antidote, pressing it to Kieran's maw and letting it slowly drip into his mouth. "Okay, that's all I can do right now," she sighed, nodding to Aiden that it was okay to pick him up.

The Zoroark tenderly put both arms underneath Kieran, who was a bit smaller than the average Umbreon, and hugged him close to his chest, cradling him as he continued to support his head. He made sure not to undo any of the bandages and turned back to the direction of the forest, ready to carry him back to where they came from.

Zander took another look at the Noivern who laid in the snow motionless, growling under his breath before turning to face Aiden. He stared at the unconscious Umbreon in the Zoroark's arms for a moment.

 _He looks so peaceful like that..._

"Aiden, run as fast as you can... don't let us hold you back."

Aiden nodded and sprinted ahead of the group, disappearing into the forest with Kieran, his black and red mane trailing him.

Zander stared down at the spot Kieran had been. He glanced over the red spots of blood in the snow before closing his eyes, picturing his cheerful partner alive and well. _You're going to make it through this Kieran. I can feel it._

Lynn rested an arm on top of Zander's back, trying her best to be reassuring. "That antidote I gave him should have slowed the bleeding and started to heal him. He's going to be fine."

The Flareon simply nodded, wiping a few tears out of his eyes, mustering the best smile he could come up with. "I know..."

"Come on, let's get back too. I don't like this place," Jayce said, shivering from the cold. He took a final look at the defeated Noivern before turning towards the treeline.

The three of them took off into the woods as dawn approached, starting to fade the dark sky into a hazy orange.

 _I'm ashamed that it took this to make me realize how precious you are to me, Kieran. You are irreplaceable._


End file.
